Dwell: Contemporary Furniture, Super Stylish and Gorgeous!

Dwell is a modern home living furniture store that I have admired for several years, so I was thrilled to be invited to the Nottingham store to view their current and new Autumn/Winter 2012 lines. Thrilled doesn’t cover it actually; I was like a kid in a sweet shop.Dwell in Nottingham is huge. All on one floor the displays are eye catching and attention grabbing with a large amount of the WOW factor thrown in. Small pockets of well thought through product layouts give you a true sense of what Dwell really is. Modern living, uber stylish, elegant but fun. From their funky bedding, to clever storage and minimally styled furniture it draws you in right from the front entrance. Its style is sleek and glossy, fun and quirky, with tonnes of quality and good design. Dwell is filling the gap that Habitat left behind quite nicely thank you. Certainly in Nottingham.The Dwell range is vast. All kinds of coffee tables, sofas, dining arrangements, bathroom and office furniture and even a stag’s head! The Nottingham store allows you to experience a good chunk of the range. I often think seeing the piece in the flesh is so much better than an online image or catalogue page don’t you?

The new ranges don’t disappoint either. Lots of geometric patterns on fabric, cushions and wallpaper. Skulls, angel wings and venetian mirrors give a dark super natural look, whilst the trademark Dwell pop shop style is still there in abundance. From Harris the Hare to the flocked balloon dog this range lightens the mood and adds a real fun element. Walnut furniture also features heavily in the new range which looked stylish and elegant. Teamed with the usual gloss white this looks really classyYou won’t be experiencing IKEA prices of course. None of this furniture is flat packed and that is reflected in the cost. So I’d say love it from afar if you want to, grab a bargain in their very good sale and look out for deals. We’re all savvy shoppers these days and done correctly, you can still appreciate the Dwell experience, even on a budget.

Dwell is a young company and its story is inspiring. Setup only 8 years ago from an initial site in Balham, it started trading both instore and online and grew quite rapidly. Now with 21 stores and more planned it seems to be riding the recession quite nicely. It has a small neighbourhood feel. All the stores are individual and designed around the buildings in which they are housed. These stores also stock different products, dependent on their customers so visiting each one can be a very different experience. From the top down it feels vibrant and young with it’s finger well and truly on the pulse.

It doesn’t surprise me that Dwell has launched a competition giving something back to the community. Design for Dwell is open to schoolchildren, teens, students and adults, where entrants submit their new furniture design to the website and are given the opportunity to win an Apple iMac with the overall winner receiving £1000. More than that though, the winner will see their design put into production with Dwell. With such passion for discovering new home grown design talent, how fabulous that last year’s winner was offered a job with Dwell and is now a Buying Assistant. Wouldn’t it be great to get a local Nottingham winner this year? Let’s get our local schools entering, for the chance to win an iMac and to see some really young talent wining would be amazing.

And so it was time for me to leave. A parting swoon over the ‘God Save the Queen’ bedding at the front door and I was gone. But the Dwell feeling stayed with me for some time. Contemporary furniture and accessories at their very best.

This is a Collaborative Review, but the opinions expressed are honest, genuine and my own.

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Comments

I’ve been away from Britain for many years but I certainly remember Habitat and their range. I see what the review means when it says it is filling that gap. Have to ask the question why did Habitat go down, but I will hazard a guess that city center locations and large stores were not easy to sustain.

I imagine that being more neighbourhood-based with their locations is a far more sensible option. As for the designs, well I was impressed. The buyers at Dwell do seem to have a keen eye and yes I agree that is worth the extra to be able to go and see, touch and smell what you put in your home other than finding out how it works after you have assembled it.

I had only one problem and it’s not directly related to the furniture, but please I struggled with the 70s wallpaper. Just a little distracting for me but one man’s love is another fellow’s hate and maybe I must have had a bad experience in the 70s so ignore me pointing that out.

I found the designs quite simple and not over pretentious as could have been said of Habitat on occasion. Nice store by the look of it and they have definitely found their niche as a fairly simple contemporary furnisher.